Why are Male Columbian Ground Squirrels Territorial?

Manno, Theodore G.; Dobson, F. Stephen

doi:10.1111/j.1439-0310.2008.01556.x

Cited by 32 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…In addition, males range widely during the mating season (Manno et al. 2007; Manno & Dobson 2008), and females that dispersed within our colony had access to most or all colony males, regardless of the location of the female’s nest burrow.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Columbian ground squirrels exhibit a polygynandrous mating system (sensu Dobson et al 2010). Copulation dates for females were estimated from diagnostic behaviours that are exhibited only on the single annual day of mating (Manno et al 2007;Manno & Dobson 2008). Gestation lasts 24 days (Murie & Harris 1982) and neonates are suckled for a further 27 days of lactation.…”

Section: Field Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

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Philopatry and within‐colony movements in Columbian ground squirrels

2011

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Philopatry and dispersal result in selection of habitat locations that may differ in resources and social environment and thus should influence fitness components like survival and reproduction. We examined short-distance movements of young and adult females from natal or previous nesting sites within a colony of Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus) in the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, Canada, over a 17-year period. Females of all ages were strongly philopatric, yet a few (10-15%) exhibited movements that took them to new home ranges. We tested three hypotheses to explain the pattern of female natal and breeding movements: (1) that movements of philopatric females promote proximity to close kin; (2) that range shifts favour close kin via bequeathal of territory and (3) that dispersers move to lower density areas where competition for resources is lower. Tests of these three hypotheses revealed that: (1) philopatry and movements of young and older philopatric females led to proximity to mothers and local presence of close kin; (2) breeding dispersal did not result in bequeathal of home range to daughters, but movements of philopatric females suggested that they shared space with close kin and (3) adult females moved to new ranges with lower local densities, though dispersing females also left ranges where local density was significantly lower than for philopatric females. Natal and breeding movements among years produced two opportunities for territorial females: close spatial proximity to close kin via short philopatric movements, and habitats with fewer competitors via longer dispersal movements.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Field Sitementioning

confidence: 99%

Philopatry and within‐colony movements in Columbian ground squirrels

2011

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“…Even though these 2-and 3-year-old males rarely defend a territory (Manno et al 2007;Manno and Dobson 2008), they are still physically capable of obtaining copulations and siring success (Raveh et al 2010). …”

Section: Operational Sex Ratiomentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous studies suggested that reproductive male Columbian ground squirrels invest both time and energy in postcopulatory behaviors such as mating calls (Manno et al 2007) and mate guarding (Manno and Dobson 2008). Whether such behavioral mechanisms influence siring success, however, remains unknown.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Male reproductive tactics to increase paternity in the polygynandrous Columbian ground squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus)

Raveh

Heg

Viblanc

et al. 2010

Behav Ecol Sociobiol

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In polyandrous and polygynandrous species where females mate with multiple partners, males are expected to maximize their fitness by exhibiting an array of reproductive behaviors to ensure fertilization success, such as competing for the best mating order within a mating sequence, optimizing their investment in copulation, and mate guarding. Though there is genetic evidence of a first-male precedence in siring success for many mammalian species, the causes of this effect are poorly understood. We studied influences on first-male precedence in Columbian ground squirrels (Urocitellus columbianus). We found that the time a male spent consorting and mate guarding declined with his mating order (both the highest for the first male to mate). Mate guarding by the first male significantly reduced, but did not exclude, the number of additional males a female accepted. Later mating males reduced the time spent consorting, suggesting a perceived decreased chance of fertilization success. Consortship and mate guarding durations were positively related to the male's siring success and to each other, suggesting that males adjusted these behaviors strategically to increase their chances of fertilization success. Our results suggest that besides being the first male to consort, first-male sperm precedence is further enhanced through longer mating bouts and by suppressing the chances and/or efforts of later mating males.

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“…For example, Lacey & Wieczorek (2001) and Manno & Dobson (2008) obtained the location of visually observed ground squirrels by dividing their study area in non-overlapping sections with boundaries determined by the shape of the meadow, and then record the locations of each visible animal to the nearest metre on a Cartesian grid. Maher (2009) noted woodchuck Marmota monax locations with respect to the nearest burrow for which he had previously obtained GPS measures.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Animal Locator: a new method for accurate and fast collection of animal locations for visible species

Pasquaretta¹,

Bogliani²,

Ranghetti³

et al. 2012

Wildlife Biology

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Ranging behaviour is one of the most important aspects of the life history of many species. Spatial distributions of individuals in the wild is linked to factors such as foraging, mating, population density, availability of resources and competition. Accurate data on the spatial location of individuals over time is often difficult to collect. Here, we propose a new simple, non‐invasive and economic method for collecting accurate spatial data usable for many different species of free‐ranging animals. Our instrument for collecting animal locations consists of three elements: a laser range finder, a laser tilt sensor and a protractor. This instrument can obtain three‐dimensional parameters of the space from a fixed point allowing the user to collect geographical locations of the animals and, in general, of any point of interest. The device we tested showed a very low average error among (1.76 ± 0.643 m) and within (1.79 ± 0.058 m) observers, and the locations we obtained were all within the 95% probability of the tolerance intervals for the 20 positions which we measured repeatedly with a Global Position System for each of 10 different test locations. We tested a range of different distances to the target points (from 20 to 222 m), and we propose formulas to calculate precision of the instrument inside this interval. Precision of estimated locations was between 0.32 to 3.55 m from the real location and it was slightly related to distance of the target point (r = 0.38, P = 0.054). As an example of its practical application, we present data on the use of the instrument within the framework of a study on a population of free‐ranging individually tagged alpine marmots Marmota marmota.

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Why are Male Columbian Ground Squirrels Territorial?

Cited by 32 publications

References 50 publications

Philopatry and within‐colony movements in Columbian ground squirrels

Philopatry and within‐colony movements in Columbian ground squirrels

Male reproductive tactics to increase paternity in the polygynandrous Columbian ground squirrel (Urocitellus columbianus)

The Animal Locator: a new method for accurate and fast collection of animal locations for visible species

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